St. Paul & Minneapolis Archbishop John Nienstedt has been accused of abuse.
According to a statement by the Archdiocese
Note – this is not a part of a lawsuit. It is a report by a mandated reporter made to the police.
Updates soon.
Author: Joelle Casteix
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St. Paul & Minneapolis Archbishop accused of abuse, steps down
Having a bad week -
Jerry Brown COULD have made a difference
Jerry Brown could have been a hero.
Jerry Brown: Hates Children. Loves Cover-up … And Catholic Lawyers He could have helped expose a cache of child pornography in the basement of the local archdiocese.
He could have forced bishops to release the names of adults credibly accused of abuse in the past ten years, but whose identities were kept secret from parishioners, communities, and the cops. He could have exposed the names of the credibly accused kept secret for decades.
He could have flushed out men who sexually abused kids and then bullied anyone who dared expose them.
He could have helped local police get the evidence they needed to re-open important investigations into child sex crimes.
He could have helped hundreds of victims of child sexual abuse use the courts to seek justice.
But what did he do? He cried “unfair!” Instead of signing SB131, the California Child Victims Act, and using it as a first-step rallying cry to change the laws that affect ALL institutions and give ALL victims rights in the courts, he decided that NO kids deserve justice.
Here is his logic: You stand on the side of a boat and have one life preserver in your hand. You have another life preserver next to you, that you only need to inflate. Inflating the life preserver will take you 15 seconds. But there are two children drowning. Instead of throwing in one life preserver and taking the short amount of time to inflate the second, you decide to let both children drown. Why? It’s unfair if one child has to wait an additional 15 seconds.
Minnesota should be an example to the nation. As should Hawaii. When victims have rights and a voice, crime and those who cover it up have nowhere to hide.
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Women abuse, too
I was in an airport last week and struck up a conversation with the woman sitting next to me. After we discussed what we each did for a living, she pursed her lips and looked at me seriously. Then, she said, “What really disgusts me is that now women are becoming sex abusers.”
She was probably referring to stories like this, and this, and this.
“It’s actually good news that you’re hearing about these cases,” I told her. She looked at me like I was nuts. That’s when I explained to her that women have been child sex offenders just as long as men have. But now … finally, their victims—girls and boys—are getting a shot at justice.
Why are these cases getting publicity and court time now? I think it’s a combination of factors:
First—Our overall societal awareness of sexual abuse has matured and our civil and criminal laws have become more victim-centered. More and more people recognize the signs of grooming. Most of us understand that it is never okay for an adult to have any kind of sexual or romantic relationship with a child, especially if the adult is in a position of power (like a teacher, pastor or coach).
Second — I think that we are finally shedding the stupid “hot for teacher” stereotypes. Most kids have innocent crushes on teachers. But these crushes are not “free passes” for female teachers to sexually abuse male or female students.
Third — It is NOT a “rite of passage” for a boy to be “broken in” by an older woman. It was not a rite of passage for me to be abused by my high school choir director and it was not a rite of passage for the more than 20 male victims of Msgr. Michael Harris to be molested by their high school principal. So why (for decades) when a 13-year-old boy was molested by his female middle school teacher, he was “ushered into manhood?” And why was it only okay when the teacher was attractive?
Fourth — Victims are breaking through the horrible stigma and shame that comes with being sexually abused by a woman. In the clergy sex abuse movement, male and female child sex abuse victims of nuns have been vocal advocates for change and accountability. As survivor Steve Thiessen so eloquently said:
Stereotypes be damned. Abuse is a crime, no matter the sex of the perpetrator.
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Former top Catholic official accused of abuse
For tomorrow’s event in Honolulu …
Fmr. Bishop and accused predator Joseph Ferrario Fmr top Catholic official accused of abuse
Victim speaks publicly for the first time
He says he was 7 when ex-Honolulu bishop molested him
New lawsuit is one of more than two dozen filed since 2012
WHAT:
Holding signs and childhood photos at a news conference, a third alleged child sexual abuse victim of a now-deceased Honolulu Catholic bishop will speak publicly about his abuse for the first time. He’ll discuss why he’s filing a civil abuse and cover up lawsuit, and
–how he tried to warn neighbors and reach out to other survivors,
–how church officials flew to his home and tried to silence him, and
–how he hopes to encourage other survivors to reach out, and get help.
WHEN:
Tuesday, December 10, 2013 at 11 am
WHERE:
7 Waterfront Plaza, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Suite 400 in Honolulu
WHO:
The alleged victim and another abuse victim who is a leader of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAPNetwork.org), the nation’s largest support group for men and women sexually abused as children in religious and institutional settings.
WHY:
A third alleged victim of former Honolulu Bishop Joseph Ferrario is filing a lawsuit and coming forward publicly saying that the cleric sexually abused him.
The man, who now lives in Las Vegas, was a seven-year-old student at Kailua’s St. Anthony’s grade school in 1975 when, he says, then-Fr. Ferrario began to groom and sexually molest him during and after school hours. Ferrario allegedly assaulted the boy in rooms on church property for roughly three years.
The alleged victim is the third man to come forward and file a lawsuit accusing Ferrario of abuse. In 2012, former St. Anthony’s parishioner Mark Pinkosh came forward and accused Ferrario and Kailua priest Joseph Henry. Ferrario was first sued for child sex crimes in 1993 by a now-deceased Honolulu man David Figueroa.
All three boys were allegedly molested during roughly the same time period at St. Anthony’s.
Copies of the lawsuit and photos will be available at the event.
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Francis is a man of ACTION! (Well, not really)
What time is it? It’s time to DO SOMETHING! Everybody has a crush on Pope Francis. He drives a car! He eats with the priests! He cold calls Catholics who write him letters!
But wait, there’s more!
He used to be a bouncer at a bar! He reportedly sneaks out at night to feed the poor! He speaks out against those nasty capitalists (whose donated money is the principal funding source for Vatican City, BTW).
Wow, with all of this action, he would have to take decisive action on the clergy abuse crisis, the first and foremost problem in his own nest, right? Eh, not so much.
Instead, he formed a committee! (Insert sad trombone here)
Not only that, but he refused to answer the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child’s questions about child sexual sexual abuse. Apparently, Francis only takes action when solving OTHER people’s problems.
C’mon Francis! You blew it. This was low-hanging fruit! You could have been on the fast track to sainthood. All you need to do are a few simple things:
You can start by the easy, symbolic actions. First, you strip Roger Mahony of any titles, power or significance. After that, you fire Kansas City Bishop Robert Finn (I mean, really, he’s CONVICTED of child endangerment). This is easy stuff. Send them both to the villages of Western Alaska, where they can live in abject poverty and devote the rest of their lives to the victims of Jesuit priests there.
Then, you move on to Bernard Law, that portly grey-haired guy who lives down the street from you. Can him. Strip him of all his titles and power. Then send him back to Boston and make him live in Southie. Make him wear a t-shirt that says, “Yes, I am Bernard Law. I promoted the guy who raped your cousin.” On laundry day, he can wear his “Born and Bred Yankee Fan” jersey. That should do it.
Those would be some good first steps.
Your committee? Lame. We all see right through it. You don’t care about making real change and you don’t care about victims because they are “inconvenient” to your agenda. If you truly cared about the world, you should start with the mess in your own basement. Now.